


Us and Them

by alexcat



Series: 2018 Cap -Ironman Bingo [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Time, M/M, meeting Alternate dimension selves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 11:24:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: Steve and Tony meet their other dimensional selves.





	1. The Other Usses

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Cap - Ironman Bingo 2018 - meeting alternate universe counterparts 
> 
>  
> 
>  _"And a multiverse is... Like, imagine the world you come from. Now imagine that there's a ton of others out there that differ in ways as simple as you being green, to ways so complex you wouldn't believe me if I told you. That's the Multiverse."_  
>  —Noble Six, We Are Our Adventuring Avatars

As many things as Steve had seen, he still wasn’t sure he believed in something Tony called the multiverse. At least he didn’t believe until he did. After it was over, he still wasn’t quite sure what had happened. 

He and Tony had been on an assignment. They were trying to steal back an artifact that Banner swore could alter time, creating splinter universes. Steve wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but his muscle was needed so he went where they sent him. Tony dropped by in the suit, as usual. They got what they’d come for.

Then things got strange. 

Steve spotted a suit like Tony’s but off just a bit, the color a little darker, something. 

“You see what I see?” he asked Stark over their comlink. 

“Yep. Another Iron Man.”

“Is there another Iron Man?” 

“Not that I know of.”

Tony interrupted Tony. “I can hear you, you know.”

“What the -?” Steve and Tony asked at once.

Another voice broke in. “You had to know this is possible, Stark.” Another Cap. 

They looked around and there he was, Captain America but his suit, like the extra Iron Man’s, was off a little, the blue a little too dark, the red too dark. 

“Possible, yes. Probable, hell no,” Stark, the right Stark, answered. 

“Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?” Steve finally found his voice again. 

The other Cap said, “Language, Rogers,” and laughed. 

Stark had the artifact and secured it (He hid it in his suit) before he flew down and landed beside Cap and they were immediately joined by their counterparts. 

“Why are you here?” Steve asked them. 

Both answered at once. “The artifact.” 

“How?” Stark asked. 

“Not sure yet,” Stark2 answered. 

“Join us for a beer later?” Tony asked them, not knowing anything else to say at this point. 

Cap2 answered that one. “Why not? I kinda need to borrow some clothes. This is all I got.” 

“Got some stuff on the Quinjet,” Steve told him.

Stark asked Stark2, “You okay? I usually have on clothes under this thing.”

“Yep.” 

The two heroes and their counterparts went to the jet. Natasha Romanov was inside, along with a pilot. Her look of surprise passed so quickly that only those who knew her well saw it. 

“Hi Nat,” Cap2 said to her. 

“What the hell have you done now, Stark?” She turned to Stark.

Tony pressed a button and his suit retracted itself and stowed itself. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. “I didn’t do this,” he told her. “At least, I don’t think I did.” 

Stark2 retracted his suit and did the same with it. He was dressed in similar fashion, though he was beardless. Cap2 was almost an exact copy of Steve, down to hairstyle and length. He looked like an identical twin, with some minute differences, almost like a photo taken a few seconds later. 

“We were sent here to find out what is making ripples in the continuum and our instruments indicated that there is an artifact here on this Earth that might be doing it,” Stark2 told them. 

Cap2 moved close to the second Stark once his suit was gone and put an arm around his back, leaned close and kissed his lips quickly. Stark2 kissed him back. 

Steve blinked. These two were together? As in a couple? Wow! He’d certainly thought about his Tony a lot, but maybe not quite like that. Besides he was pretty sure that Tony only wanted Ms. Potts. He might be brave as hell when fighting bad guys, but love scared the crap out of Captain America.

“We’re headed back to New York, if you want to come along,” Tony told their doubles. 

Stark2 nodded. “Our trackers are following the signature from the device and you seem to have it, so I guess we’re with you.”

“Give us a chance to let me and Banner get a look at it, then we can talk about that,” Tony said. 

“New York it is, then,” Cap2 said as they all took seats and readied for the Quinjet to take off. 

“Your Banner the Hulk, too?” Tony asked. 

Both men nodded. “Hell of a nice guy, too,” Cap2 said. “He and Tony spend more time together than Tony spends with me.” 

Stark2 leaned close to his companion. “Jealous, baby?” 

“A little, sometimes, but you know that.” 

Stark2 put an arm around Cap2 and squeezed him tight. “It’s you I love, Cap.” 

Steve looked at the floor a few seconds before daring to look at Tony. When he finally did, Tony was staring straight at him. He quickly looked away. 

What the hell?

*

Nick Fury was not amused when they arrived in New York with doppelgangers. He motioned Tony and Steve into a private office. 

“What the fuck were you two thinking?” 

“They were going to come here anyway. We just offered them a lift,” Steve told the angry Fury. 

“And how the hell do you know that?” 

“They’re tracking that device we stole. They didn’t come in a ship, Fury. They just fucking appeared,” Tony told him. 

“Get that thing to Banner and the two of you take a look at it pronto, before the other yous decide to take it and go, though that might be the best damned answer.”

Tony gave Fury a mock salute.

Steve followed Tony to the lab and left Fury and Maria Hill to entertain their doubles. 

*

After several hours of prodding and scanning and all manner of testing, they knew nothing about the device. It looked like a brown rock, but it hummed when touched, sort of a low frequency vibration. 

“Well, if you slept with it in your underwear, it might be fun, but other than that, I don’t think I can figure out what to do with it,” Tony finally said. 

Banner laughed. “Why don’t you try that and report back to us, Tony?” 

“Maybe I got something else to vibrate me,” he said. He added, almost as an afterthought, “By the way, our twins are a couple. They’ve been kissing and fondling one another since we met them.” 

Bruce grinned. “Maybe you and Cap should take a page from their book.” 

Steve hoped they didn’t notice his blush, but of course, Tony did. 

“Why are you all pink, Cap?” 

“I need food… my, um, blood sugar drops.” 

Banner and Tony both looked at him like he was nuts. 

“What? I don’t know.”

But he did know. He wondered what kissing Tony would be like. He’s not stopped thinking about it since Stark2 kissed Cap2. 

“I’ll get out of the way and let you two work. I need a shower and some food.”

He went to his quarters in Avengers Tower and took a rather cool shower. Then he made himself a couple of sandwiches and piled up on the sofa with a movie. He had read Tolkien and at Clint’s urging, was watching the movie versions of The Lord of the Rings. He fell asleep, though, about halfway through the first one. Cap was one of those people who slept very deeply and woke up very slowly, when he did finally sleep.

“It’s all right, Cap.” The voice was Tony, but he was whispering. “I’m going to cover you up. You were sleeping like a log. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Sorry. Fell asleep watching the movie.” 

He was sleepy enough that he didn’t pay much attention to the way Tony was looking at him or the gentle way that Tony tucked the blanket around him. 

“Goodnight, Cap. See you later.” Stark started for the door. 

Steve could always blame his half-awake state for what happened next. 

“Kiss me goodnight, Stark.”

“What?” He stopped dead in his tracks. 

“Give me a goodnight kiss before you go.” 

“Uh, I, well, okay.” Stark came back to the sofa to kiss Steve’s cheek. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing he’d ever done. 

When he bent down, Steve put a hand behind his head and pulled him close and kissed Stark right on the lips. Stark didn’t pull away. Steve kissed him a second time. 

“Go do whatever you were going to do before I decide not to let you go,” Steve told him. He could have slapped himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. 

Stark was shocked, but not displeased at all. He dipped his head close for a bonus kiss and was gone before Steve could utter a sound. 

Steve Rogers did a classic facepalm as soon as the door closed. What the hell was he thinking?


	2. The Brown Rock

The visitors were sitting in the small cafeteria the next morning when Tony came in for his first cup of coffee. 

“Where did we put you last night?” he asked them. 

“No one ever told us where to go so we slept on the sofa in the common room,” Cap2 answered.

“Sorry about that. It was crazy after we got back, what with -” Tony started.

“Director Fury turning things upside down,” Stark2 finished for him. 

“Yeah, that. Anyway, I’ll get someone to find you a room today.”

Tony sat down with them and sipped his streaming mug. “I’m not clear on how you got here? Did you just appear?”

“Well, kind of,” Stark2 said. “Banner and I were trying to find the artifact and he’d set a tracker on my suit. It followed the beacon and suddenly, Cap and I were here.”

“You don’t really know how to get back, do you?”

“Not yet. I’m sure we can figure it out when we see the device.”

Tony laughed. “Have you ever seen it?” 

“No,” Cap2 answered. “Why?” 

“It’s a damn brown rock, a lumpy brown rock,” Steve said as he arrived in the cafeteria. 

“It must have some sort of opening,” Cap2 said.

“Banner and I found nothing. And we looked. For hours. Nada, nothing,” Stark answered. 

“May I take a crack at it?” Stark2 asked. 

“Why not? We’ll go down to the lab after breakfast,” Tony answered. 

“Wanna run with me?” Steve asked his counterpart.

“Sure. I’m not the science-ish type.”

Steve grinned at him. “Tell me about it.” 

The four ate and chatted, the Starks talked about science and technology while the Caps talked about their history, about being WWII soldiers. It turned out that their histories were not very different. Both had been friends with Bucky, had come from Brooklyn, had volunteered for the super soldier serum and had been crazy over Peggy. 

After the thaw, they’d diverged. Cap2 had become fast friends with Tony from the beginning and they’d become lovers not long after. Steve had become friends with his Tony only after they’d clashed terribly at the beginning of the battle of New York. 

Steve and Cap2 took off for their run while the Starks joined Banner in the lab to look at the brown rock some more. 

They all agreed that it vibrated and some more silly jokes were made about vibrating rocks. 

When Bruce had left the room for a few minutes, Stark2 said. “You should tell your Cap.”

“Tell him what?” Tony was as confused as he looked. 

“How you feel.” 

“You’ve lost me,” Tony said as Bruce walked up. 

“Hey, Tony, I think he means you should tell Rogers that you like him.” 

“Of course I like him. We’re friends.” 

“Not like that, Tony.” Bruce was every bit the absent minded professor type, but he was also very observant of his surroundings and his friends. 

“I’m not sure I follow,” Tony said, still a little confused. What they meant was beginning to seep into his mind. “You think me and Rogers are – what? In love? Just because you two are? That’s ridiculous.”

Stark2 laughed. “Is it? You look at him exactly like I look at Cap. Exactly.”

“We’re friends. Finally. We got a rough start. Not gonna fuck that up for a little slap and tickle.”

“It’s a little more than that,” Stark2 said. 

“That’s the thing. I don’t fancy him like that. Sure he’s the best looking man I’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean I want to do the nasty with him.” He was totally choosing not to remember the kiss. 

Banner laughed. “You really are protesting too much, Tony.” 

“Enough. Let’s get back to the rock,” Tony snapped. 

Bruce tried to stay out of stressful situations, so he backed off. They turned back to the rock.

“Can you tell if it does _anything_ besides vibrate?” Stark2 asked.

“Obviously, it does something. You’re here. If you haven’t lied to us. Maybe we need replicate what you were doing on your side when you were zapped here,” Tony said. 

“You said you had a tracker. Can I see it?” Bruce asked. 

Stark2 pressed a button on his watch and the suit came to him from where it was stored in the lab and fitted itself on him. It was dark, a burgundy instead of the red of Tony’s suit. He opened a tiny slot and inside was a small device that looked a little like a zip drive. He removed it and handed it to Bruce. 

“Don’t break it. It might be our only way back.” 

Bruce nodded and took it to a scanner. “Did you and Banner make it?”

“It was actually stored with some other old tech from Cap’s day. My father might have had something to do with it,” Stark2 answered. 

They put it in close proximity to the brown rock and a tiny slit opened in the rock, just the size to fit the device into like a zip drive. 

“Shall we?” Bruce asked. 

“Not yet,” Stark2 said. “What if it sends me back alone? Let’s wait and do it when we’re all together.” 

Bruce nodded. “Speaking of others, where are the Captains?” 

“Running and they should be back soon,” Stark2 said. 

“Steve stops to pet dogs and kiss babies when he’s running. He’s kinda friendly like a big pup himself sometimes,” Tony said. The other Stark nodded. His Cap was that way, too. 

As if summoned, the two Steves came into the lab. Cap2 looked at his Stark and shook his head. “This guy can outrun me! That’s the first time that ever happened.” 

Steve grinned at Tony. “There’s a bad joke in there somewhere.”

The only thing that Tony could think was that he was _not_ attracted to his friend, no matter how good Steve looked all sweaty and flushed from his run. He kept thinking that until his gaze stopped at the grey cotton shorts, all clingy from perspiration. He wasn’t sure he’d ever stared at any man’s crotch before. 

“Tony!” Bruce said. “Did you hear me?”

“Sorry. I, uh, was thinking about a new modification, to make the suit cooler and more comfortable.” 

Bruce said in a low voice, “It looked like you were staring at Steve’s, um, junk.” 

Tony turned sharply, and for a moment, Bruce thought he might hit him. Then he said in an equally low voice, “You’re not completely wrong.” He had been thinking about the kiss and about Steve – naked. 

Tony turned to Stark2. “Are we ready to try the ‘key’ now?” 

“Go for it,” his doppelganger answered, taking Cap2’s hand in his. 

Tony inserted the drive into the rock. It clicked. 

And nothing else. 

He pulled it out and again, nothing happened. 

“Well, that went well,” Steve said. “I’ll see you guys later. I’m heading for the shower. I, um, smell. It’s hot out there.” 

Tony suddenly needed some air. He left the lab right after Steve, not saying anything to anyone. He decided to walk past Steve’s apartment on his way out for air. Steve was just unlocking the door. 

“Stark,” he said and nodded. “You okay? You seem a little rattled.” 

“I need to talk to you.”

Before Steve could answer, Bruce came running down the hall, yelling. 

“They’re gone. They just went poof!” 

“Slow down,” Tony said. “What happened?” 

“We were talking and I handed the little tracker back to Stark and he and Cap went poof and they were gone.” 

“I guess it worked then. What about the rock?” 

“It’s still a rock.” 

Tony sighed. “Well, we know it might possibly have something to do with interdimensional travel. Or it may just be a strange rock.”


	3. Just Us

Bruce went back to the lab to put the rock away. Steve looked at Tony. “You wanted to talk to me?” 

“Did I? It must have not been very important, since I can’t seem to remember.”

“That’s crap, Stark.”

“I really am not sure what I meant to say.” That was actually the truth. How did you tell Captain America that his running shorts made you forget your own name? 

“Come on in for a drink. I don’t have any pricy Scotch, but I’m sure there’s some soda and beer in the fridge. Give me a few minutes to shower and I’ll join you.” 

The smart thing would have been to go back to the lab and talk to Bruce about the rock, or the multiverse. Even though he was brilliant, he was not always smart. He nodded and took the beer Steve got out for him. He sat on the sofa and looked around at the room while he listened to sound of the shower in the next room. He tried to be interested in Steve’s stack of books and his growing music collection. 

But he kept listening to the shower. And thinking about what was under those little gray shorts. Why Rogers? 

Well, he was gorgeous, for one thing. He was as good as he was gorgeous and he never let Tony push him around. Tony was really good at manipulating the people around him and he tended to love the ones who refused to allow it. 

Pepper never let him push her around. She might take some of his shit, but at the end of the day, she called him on it. He’d always love her for that. 

Steve was the same. He got in Tony’s face more than one time, when they didn’t agree. He wasn’t afraid of Tony in the suit and certainly not out of it. 

The shower had stopped while he was thinking. Steve came into the room dressed in a pair of jeans. He was drying his hair with a towel. Tony looked, taking in the muscular chest, the tightness of Steve’s jeans, and the trail of dark hair disappearing into those jeans. 

He gulped a swallow of the beer. 

And nearly choked on it. 

Steve dropped the towel and ran to him, patting him on the back. 

“You okay?” 

He sputtered a bit then finally regained his equilibrium. “I’m fine now.” 

Steve grabbed the towel and gave his hair one more rub, then picked up a shirt off the back of a chair. It was one of the old-fashioned looking, checked, button up shirts he seemed to like. It was dark blue and white, long sleeved. He pulled it on, buttoned it and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows before tucking it into his unbelted jeans. 

He grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat on the chair perpendicular to the sofa. 

“So what’s up? The other Stark seemed to upset you.” 

“He did, but I don’t suppose it was in a bad way.”

Steve looked concerned. 

Could he look any better? 

“What did he say?” 

“That you and I should, that is to say he thought we should look into, we should -” He couldn’t even think of the right work. Date? Fuck? What?

“Be together like they are?” Steve asked, his face coloring a little as he did.

“Yeah. Cap say something to you?”

“No, but since the other night, I’ve wanted to -, I’ve thought about the kisses a lot.” 

“I thought you were so sleepy that you wouldn’t remember.”

“I didn’t sleep the rest of the night.” 

Tony licked his lip. “I would not mind trying that again.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “A kiss?” 

“One kiss. If there’s something there, okay and if not, we forget it and move on. Deal?” 

Steve nodded and moved to sit on the sofa beside Tony. They made an awkward attempt to embrace that ended in them bumping elbows, more or less. 

“Be still,” Tony said to Steve, then he leaned close without using his hands at all and kissed Steve gently and briefly on the lips. 

It felt like someone had thrown a match into gasoline! He was not expecting that. The touch of Steve’s lips went straight through him, making him a little breathless. He pulled back.

“Well, that was qui -” and that was as far as he got before Steve leaned close and put one hand behind his head, kissing him again. This kiss was not light or brief. Steve slipped his tongue between Tony’s parted lips and claimed his mouth, exploring, teasing, and inviting Tony to claim him, too, as he slipped his tongue back into his own mouth. 

Tony was stunned for only a few seconds before responding quite enthusiastically, putting his arms around Steve and kissing him again and again. 

Steve had other ideas and stood, and not bothering to end their kiss, he lifted Tony and carried him to his bedroom. The next few minutes were spent tugging at clothing and touching newly bared skin. 

Finally they lay naked on the cool sheets, hot, hard bodies pressed close. Steve was on top of Tony, their cocks pressed between them, touching, rubbing. Tony had both hands on Steve’s ass, holding him tight while he ground his hips up against Steve. 

Everything moved so quickly. Tony turned his head to the side, unsure if he was ready for Steve to look into his eyes as he came, unsure if he was willing to be so completely exposed. 

“Please, look at me. Let me watch you,” Steve asked. 

Tony looked into those blue eyes, saw the same fire he felt reflected back at himself. He dug his fingers into Steve’s buttocks, straining hard, so hard. God, it felt so good, losing control so completely as he bucked against Steve, spilling himself between them. 

As soon as Tony stopped moving, Steve opened his legs and spread them apart, pressing all of his weight against Tony. The friction and the pressure drove him over, too. He never took his eyes from Tony’s as he cried out Tony’s name over and over in a sweet litany. 

When Steve stopped moving, Tony sought his mouth, kissed him once then again and again. 

Steve slipped off of him to lie beside him. Tony rolled onto his side and watched Steve. 

“Do you think they got home all right?” Steve asked. 

“I hope so. I hope they’re snuggled up together somewhere like us,” Tony answered. 

“That Stark was really a nice guy. He reminded me of you,” Steve teased as he pulled Tony back into his arms for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> 'Usses' comes from Bill and Ted. 
> 
> The title is from a Pink Floyd song of the same name.


End file.
